


Maybe Tomorrow is a Better Day

by smaragdbird



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Break Up, Falling In Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-03
Updated: 2016-03-03
Packaged: 2018-05-24 13:56:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6155854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smaragdbird/pseuds/smaragdbird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Coulson wakes up after Loki stabbed him the first person he sees is Tony.<br/>Through the whole healing process Tony is there for him while Clint hides from him, torn apart by guilt. Clint and Coulson grow apart while Tony and Coulson become closer and closer until the inevitable happens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Maybe Tomorrow is a Better Day

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this ](http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/8247.html?thread=17188663#t17188663) prompt on avengerkink.

The first thing he saw when he woke up was Tony Stark who sat on a very comfortable looking chair, his knees drawn up to his chin.

“Hey”, Tony greeted him softly when he saw that Phil was awake.

Phil blinked. What happened? He wanted to ask but his throat was too dry. Tony gave him a glass of water after helping him to sit up and said, “The next time Fury fakes your death tell him to be more convincing. I saw through that ruse within minutes.”

He was lying but Phil wouldn’t call him on it until he had gotten the whole story. “You defeated Loki then I presume?”

“Thor got his brother and the tesseract and we got Dr. Selvig and your agent back. By the way the whole cellist pun was bad even for you.”

So Clint was recovered, Phil thought with relief. “Where is he?”

Tony shrugged. “No idea. Last time I saw him was Central Park when we sent Thor and his luggage home. Agent Romanov might know.”

“Was he hurt?”

“Don’t think so. Not worse than the rest of us anyway and thanks for asking. ‘How are you, Tony?’ ‘Oh, I died for a few moments saving New York but else I’m fine.’ And it wasn’t the fake version of dying that you did. I was properly dead for ten seconds, Jarvis said.” Tony told him with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Thanks, Tony”, Phil said dryly. 

/

When Clint finally visited him he looked like hell. Phil ached to hold him in his arms but Clint made no move to step away from the door.

“I’m sorry, Phil, but I don’t think I can do this anymore”, Clint told his shoes, looked quickly up at Phil and then back to his shoes. “I just can’t. It’s too much, I’m sorry.”

“Clint – “

“I know what you want to say. But I can’t. I almost got you killed. It’s too much. I just...I’m sorry.”

“I understand”, Phil answered. He did, in a way, and this wasn’t exactly surprising, just…painful. After everything the two of them had gone through this was what broke them. Phil had never hated Loki more than in this moment.

“I’ll get out of your hair. I think that’s the best for everyone.”

“Yes”, Phil replied. What else could he say?

/

Tony insisted that Phil moved into the tower. Despite still having an Asgardian shaped hole in his living room floor Tony said that the tower was safer and more comfortable than anything Shield could whip up for him.

Fury seemed to think it an excellent idea or he would’ve put up more of a fight.

Phil didn’t know whether to be grateful or not.

“Coffee?” Tony asked when Phil came into the kitchen in the middle of the night.

“Thanks”, Phil replied and took the offered mug.

“Can’t sleep?” Tony pushed the tablet aside and leaned back.

“I find it more comfortable to stand”, Phil answered.

Tony nodded. “I couldn’t sleep when I came back. Used to sleep on my stomach.”

“I should have asked Loki to just stab me in the back and not through the chest as well then I could at least sleep on my stomach”, Phil said with a dry smile.

“Yeah, well, you can help me. I’m redesigning some of your uniforms”, Tony said quickly to change the topic. “Not your Captain America uniform obviously. Who am I to deny you the chance to oogle the Captain’s ass? But your Shield uniforms have some serious flaws.” And then Tony was talking a mile a minute, wildly waving his hands around and Phil just watched him. It felt good to see Tony like this: normal, excited, alive.

Every now and then he threw in a concern, a possible problem or a situation where they would need a failsafe. Tony, of course, had an answer for everything.

/

He moved back into his apartment a month later despite Tony’s loud and numerous protests. But Phil knew he had to face their home at one point and postponing it wouldn’t help anyone.

Even at a cursory glance it was clear that Clint had only taken some of his clothes and his bow. Everything else was where it had been before they had been called in for Project Pegasus.

Phil’s hand lingered on Clint’s jacket that still hung on its hook in the hallway as if he’d come and get it any moment now. Perhaps, Phil though, perhaps it meant he would be back.

Two days later there was a knock on the door. For a second Phil hoped it’d be Clint but it turned out to be Tony with a bottle of whiskey in his hand.

“What are you doing here?” Phil asked.

Tony shrugged. “Natalie, sorry, Natasha said you’d need some company tonight even though she didn’t say why. Now can I come in?”

Phil stepped aside and watched as Tony sauntered into his kitchen, looking around curiously.

“Want one? Or a dozen?” Tony asked when he found where Phil kept his glasses and poured himself one.

“I’ll take one”, Phil said. It probably wasn’t a good idea to drink while still taking medication but to hell with reason. It was midnight. Midnight was made for bad ideas.

“So, why did Natasha sent me here?” Tony asked as he filled Phil’s glass generously.

Phil took the whiskey and drank it in one go. “It’s our anniversary”, he explained. “Clint’s and mine. Would’ve been six years today.”

“For what it’s worth”, Tony said quietly and refilled his glass, “I’m sorry.”

“Thanks”, Phil replied. 

“Now, do you want to get drunk and rant about how much he doesn’t deserve you?” Tony asked and waved the bottle of whiskey in his hand.

“One of the two at least.”

/

What he didn’t expect was to find Tony in his living room in jeans and an undershirt.

What the hell had happened last night?

“Here”, Tony said, pressing a couple pills and a glass orange juice into Phil’s hands. “Thought you might need this after last night.”

“Did you sleep on my couch?” Phil asked.

“Well, yeah, for someone who’s still on medication you drank way too much last night. Believe me I know what I’m talking about.” Tony said and then casually moved on. “Are you hungry? Despite popular opinion I’m quite good at making sandwiches. I mean your fridge looks a little empty but I’ve worked with less.”

Somehow Phil was not the least surprised that Tony had already made himself at home in Phil’s apartment and he discovered that he didn’t mind. Tony didn’t seem to notice, having switched from his sandwich-making-skills to how ineffective Phil’s fridge was. He was half convinced that Tony wasn’t actually talking to him, he just liked to have an audience while he was talking to himself.

/

“Hi”, Tony said cheerfully when Phil opened the door. “Do you have a moment? I brought dinner. Also Pepper and Bruce say hi.”

He marched into Phil’s kitchen and already had the plates out by the time Phil had closed the front door.

“I have some ideas about the tower that I want your input on. And can I have one of those Quinjets for studying? And I need to know if Shield holds the patent for the helicarrier.” Tony talked on and Phil watched him with a familiar warm feeling spreading through his chest. “….Natasha and Bruce keep watching kids programs in foreign languages although I’m not sure if that’s good or not. And Steve talks about going to art school. Also he made a painting of you and called it “Everyday Hero”.”

“You’re not funny, Stark”, Phil told him but Tony grinned unrepentantly.

“I had to see if you’re still listening to me. But it’s good to know that you do.” He stood up and rifled through Phil’s CD’s. “Black Sabbath?” 

“It’s Clint’s.” It hurt a little less each day to talk about him but it still wasn’t anything less painful than being stabbed through the chest.

“Sorry”, Tony said automatically.

“He hasn’t picked up his stuff yet.” And Phil didn’t have the energy to throw Clint’s belongings out. A part of him was still hoping that he might come back.

“He’s an idiot”, Tony said and sat back down next to Phil. “He should be fighting for you, not run away to the other side of the world.”

/

“Tony”, Phil interrupted him the eighth time Tony had turned up on his doorstep with dinner and a pretext. This time’s pretext was that Phil had never seen Wall-E which Tony found unacceptable. “Why are you doing this?”

“We’re friends, right?” Tony said too casually. Phil would have loved to believe him but he knew that Tony was lying.

“You don’t want us to be just friends”, he told Tony who shrugged.

“I get that Barton hurt you. And I can wait even if it’s forever and you get married to someone else in the meantime. I’m pretty good at flexible planning”, Tony’s smile wavered a little around the edges but it was sincere. Phil reached out and briefly squeezed Tony’s hand. “Thanks.”

/

“Tony?”

“Yeah?”

“I need some help getting rid of Clint’s things.”

There was moment of silence on the other side then Tony said, “Fucking finally. I’ll be there in ten.” And hung up.

Clint’s things fit into two cardboard boxes which they put into Tony’s car so that he could give them to Natasha. She would know how to get them to Clint.

“Now that this is done what do you say to – “Tony never finished his sentence because Phil touched his hand resting on the car, tangling their fingers together. His heart was pounding hard inside his chest and he could feel Tony’s eyes on him. Slowly he tilted his head towards Tony, holding onto his hand. Their lips met and Tony was kissing him, softly as if he was waiting to be denied. Fuck that, Phil thought and kissed him back as passionately as he could.

“Tony, I...this isn’t just a rebound.”

For a split second Tony looked ridiculously happy before he tilted his head up slightly and smirked at Phil. “As if you could walk away from this. And practice does make perfect, you know? Also I’m a genius.”

“On a second thought – “Phil pretended to turn away but Tony quickly caught his arm and pulled him back. 

“I love you”, he blurted out. This time it was Phil’s turn to look stupidly happy but other than Tony he didn’t try to hide it.

“Thank you.” He couldn’t say it back, not yet but he felt confident that one day he would.

/

Tony, as expected, had very little holdups about public displays of affection. Unexpectedly Phil found that he liked it. Clint had never been this unashamedly open about his feelings where other people had been able to see it. Phil hadn’t minded that either. But having Tony slide his arm around Phil’s waist or pulling him in for a spontaneous kiss no matter where they were was refreshing. The other Avengers took it well enough even if Tony reported that Natasha had threatened him to treat Phil right.

“I’ve never been so scared in my life”, Tony told him.

“Colonel Rhodes did the same”, Phil replied. 

“Rhodey?” Tony asked. “Not Pepper?”

“Pepper told me that I don’t have to put up with you if I don’t want to.”

“Pfft, so much for employee loyalty.”

“Technically you aren’t Pepper’s boss anymore.”

“On whose side are you?”

“On hers obviously. She was nice to me from the start”, Phil said and kissed Tony.

/

“Hi.” He hadn’t seen Clint in over a year and yet there was this unexpected sting when he suddenly stood in front of him.

“Hello”, Phil said and felt stupid. “How are you?”

“I’m fine.” Clint looked as awkward as Phil felt. “How are you?”

“I’m fine as well.”

“So you and Tony then?” Clint asked like he wasn’t sure he had any right to ask.

“Yes”, Phil answered because he wasn’t ashamed. Hadn’t been ashamed of him and Clint either.

“He makes you happy?”

“He does.”

“Good.”

There was nothing left to say. Clint put his hands in his pockets. “I’ll see you around.”

“Clint”, Phil called after him. “You can come back to the team if you want.”

“You’re sure you want me around?”

“We always knew this could happen. I’m willing to give us working together again a chance. “

“Thank you.”

This time Phil let him go.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me [ here](http://smaragdbird.tumblr.com/) on tumblr


End file.
